...The professor has given the same presentation for years. When freshman athletes arrive at Florida State that first summer, Mark Zeigler welcomes them with a speech that is equal parts pep talk and cautionary tale.

He tells the Seminoles' success stories, recounts the national championships and Heisman trophies and famous alumni who have become millionaire athletes.

Then he covers the other side, "the ones who, quite frankly, didn't make us proud," Zeigler said. The ones who flunked out, got locked up or became ensnared by scandal - stories so disturbingly common in sports that they're a cliché...

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In July 2008, he wondered as he backed out of a parking space if anything had sunk in with this newest crop. Then came a startling clatter on the rear window.

Zeigler turned to see a towering teenager leaning down.

"My name is EJ," Zeigler remembers hearing. "I was at your talk. I just wanted to let you know that I'll never let you down."

That was his introduction to EJ Manuel, a Bayside High graduate who almost three years later is taking over as Florida State's starting quarterback...

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...So what's all the fuss about?

Beyond Manuel's talents, his patience in waiting for playing time won many over. Others admire the way Manuel, who earned ACC All-Academic honors in 2009 and 2010, balances college life with the demands of big-time football.

"Here's what I love about EJ," Zeigler said. "If something happened and he had a career-ending injury, there would be loss and sadness, but he'd get through it, probably go to grad school, and he would have a great life. He's building his life in a bunch of different arenas. He just gets it."...

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...Manuel was rated the nation's No. 2 dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com. Coaches from nearly every major college flocked to Virginia Beach.

Manuel chose Florida State because he liked the new offensive coordinator, Fisher, who last year replaced legendary Bobby Bowden as head coach. Fisher's pro-style offense, in which Manuel would handle snaps from under center the way quarterbacks must in the NFL, fit the big-picture plan.

"He crossed off schools that ran the spread offense, where he'd be in the shotgun all the time," Moore said....

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...It helped that Ward had heard about Manuel's potential and reached out that first year. Ward explained that even he couldn't get on the field until his redshirt junior season.

"I told him, 'You can do everything you need to in two years,' " Ward said. "He's had to be patient. In our day and time, that's a lost art, especially in college sports where everyone wants it now, now, now."

Manuel said he never considered transferring - "I believed God had a plan for me here and I'd see it in his time" - and his teammates say they never knew he was frustrated. He celebrated with Ponder after the guy keeping him on the bench tossed a touchdown pass. Manuel gets a lot of respect from the other players, Reed said, for the way he handled the waiting game.

Fisher reassured Manuel, too, telling him that while someone with his talent could've played immediately in a simplistic offense, Manuel was being prepped to run a complex scheme that would ultimately help him get to the next level. Reminded again of the bigger picture, Manuel prepared every week for the last two seasons as if he was going to play....

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..."I've played in some big games," he said. "I played against Florida. They beat us badly, but when they were the No. 1 team in the country, I was a freshman playing in The Swamp. That's stuff you need to get used to. We'll go there this season and it won't faze me at all."

That big picture is coming into focus. With Ponder gone, Manuel seized the starting job this spring. Having tweaked his throwing motion to improve accuracy and power, and to alleviate shoulder problems that required surgery last spring, Manuel has reportedly been throwing darts....

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...Manuel had a rough day in Florida State's spring game last weekend. Playing behind a line depleted by injuries, he was sacked six times and was under duress on many of his 36 passes. Manuel completed only 17 of them, although one was a long touchdown, and threw two interceptions.

Yet, Fisher came away impressed. With his team down 19-17 with 35 seconds left, Manuel in rapid succession completed passes of 18, 41 and 9 yards - the last going to a receiver who was stopped just short of the goal line as time expired.

"That's what great players do. They can play bad all day... but they get the ball at the end of the game and they find a way to make a play," Fisher said. "Even when he knows he's against a stacked deck, it doesn't matter to him. We're in great hands."

How good, then, can Manuel be? In what seemed like a competition to see who could fawn over the guy the most, Ward saved the best for last.

I think that Karlos Williams will play a good bit as a freshmen. He was impressive in all the ALLSTAR games last winter. Also do you guys think Wilder will be at RB or LB because I have read people saying he will play offense and others saying he will be on D... What do you think. And do you think any of these guys(besides the JUCO's) will get on the field right away?

It all depends on the guys in front of LOS and his talent, Terrance Parks I have heard has improved greatly and moving Joyner back to his natural position of safety sounds like a great move. I am really high on Lamarcus but we will find out the x-factor and the person that has the experience is Nick Moody but he was probably below average in pass defense last year and being out all spring doesn't help.

So I probably look at it 2 ways:
LOS gets on the field more often then expected either = those 3 guys can't take care of it or
he is a great talent and beats them all out.

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Wilder will be play at HB for at least this year, but our backfield is very very deep if everyone is on their game. I was a huge Jermaine guy but Chris has taken the torch and ran away with it. I don't really know what to expect from JW, I would say 3rd down back but why burn his play on that if that is all he will play. Just burn up Ty Jones last year, but downside on that he is so inconsistent and his diabetes problem causes issues. Really the freshman back that will wow people, I think is Devonta Freeman. But for the time being throw Wilder and defense out of the same sentence.

It all depends on the guys in front of LOS and his talent, Terrance Parks I have heard has improved greatly and moving Joyner back to his natural position of safety sounds like a great move. I am really high on Lamarcus but we will find out the x-factor and the person that has the experience is Nick Moody but he was probably below average in pass defense last year and being out all spring doesn't help.

So I probably look at it 2 ways:
LOS gets on the field more often then expected either = those 3 guys can't take care of it or
he is a great talent and beats them all out.

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Wilder will be play at HB for at least this year, but our backfield is very very deep if everyone is on their game. I was a huge Jermaine guy but Chris has taken the torch and ran away with it. I don't really know what to expect from JW, I would say 3rd down back but why burn his play on that if that is all he will play. Just burn up Ty Jones last year, but downside on that he is so inconsistent and his diabetes problem causes issues. Really the freshman back that will wow people, I think is Devonta Freeman. But for the time being throw Wilder and defense out of the same sentence.

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I agree totally on the Wilder argument. He looks like a natural bruser of a HB, and I think its a good thing that he has a few guys in front of him that he can learn from but he is going to be a good one. Have you seen the video on him running the ball, he refuses to go down and fights for every yard. Thats the type of back that Fisher had that won him National Championships at LSU. Anyway the only other issue is that I feel Joyner was kinda over hyped his frosh year and he didn't live up to it. Moving him to safety does seem to fit his playing style better but Im just left wondering if he will be able to match up with the bigger and much taller TE's and Hbacks he will likely have to cover. We shall see. But I havent been this excited about an FSU team sence the turn of the millenia (haha). So it should be fun to watch.

Thanks Noles that was good. I've been saying our defense is better than the offense for a while, but some guys are good but just haven't been proven. I thought Onwukaife was small coming out of HS but now they say he's like an oversized LB.

Still the battles at the skill positions don't seem to be settled. I like Thompson but I don't even know what's going on with Thomas. At freshman, I see Freeman making a bigger impact at HB than Wilder. At WR, I think it's really just Reed, Haulstead, and Smith. Hopefully Easterling plays well and same with Kenny Shaw. What intrigues me is the future of the freshman Kelvin Benjamin.

Thanks Noles that was good. I've been saying our defense is better than the offense for a while, but some guys are good but just haven't been proven. I thought Onwukaife was small coming out of HS but now they say he's like an oversized LB.

Still the battles at the skill positions don't seem to be settled. I like Thompson but I don't even know what's going on with Thomas. At freshman, I see Freeman making a bigger impact at HB than Wilder. At WR, I think it's really just Reed, Haulstead, and Smith. Hopefully Easterling plays well and same with Kenny Shaw. What intrigues me is the future of the freshman Kelvin Benjamin.

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Yea, that news about Onwukaife excites me and I am high on Telvin. I agree I think Freeman impacts the offense more than Wilder but 2 great options. I have always like JT but the last year and half I have started to renege that, Thompson is our guy I believe and I hope he continues what he did against Carolina.

I think it is more of Haulstead and Smith, Rodney is my dude. I really want to see what Christian Green can do, but we have depth like crazy on the offense side of the ball. Haulstead 6'3'', Smith 6'6'', Green is 6'2+ Benjamin 6'5''+ then we have speedy Bert and I think Easterling is way more dependable than Bert.

I hope very reed plays well. From what I hear he's pretty lazy and just seems like the type who could screw up off the field. Of course thats not backed by anything. Also Greg Reid made a lot of mistakes and great plays last year. I think he's ready to make a big impact on defense instead of focusing on returns as much. he made a big improvement from the beginning to the end of the season last year and I'm excited to watch him in 2011

The skill positions will work themselves out. I'm most concerned about the lines which the article doesn't touch on at all except for DT.

We have solid depth (finally) at DT but what happens at LDE? Does Werner step right in and make the kind of impact he had last year or does Tank get immediate playing time? He seems physically ready but Werner will be tough to keep off the field; I thought he was better than Markus White last year.

Also what about the offensive line? Losing Rodney and McMahon and all the injuries really surrounds the OL with questions. From everything I've read Fahrenkrhug (sp?) has looked really good at C but is Spurlock over his injuries? Didn't Zebrie have off-season shoulder surgery? Does Jacob Stanley step up for a job?

I got faith in Trick Daddy to figure it all out but those are the two positions I'm most concerned about. Whoever we put on the field at WR or RB or OLB has the talent to make an impact it's just a matter of who shows the leadership. But we've got some guys who've never started that will be called upon on the lines which leaves some big questions to be answered.

Just checked out the rosters at the new TeamBuilder site. They did a pretty good job getting a lot of the freshmen in there. DeVonta Freeman, James Wilder, Timmy Jernigan, Nick Waisome are all on there with accurate numbers it appears.

I don't think they have the OL positions right but that's kind of impossible at this point, I don't think Trick has settled on his starters yet.

They actually included Jacob Coker. He'll probably red shirt all year and never see playing time, interesting that they wasted a roster spot on him.

They have Karlos's number as #40, no way he's #40 right? Gotta be #9. (or is that supposed to be Lamarcus Brutus and they didn't include 'Los?)

Lamarcus Joyner having just switched to safety in the spring is already rated better than Moody.

Just nitpicking now but they have X.Rhodes and G5 rated the same. X is one of the 3-4 best corners in the nation, he's better than Greg imo.

Telvin Smith gets some love as an 80 OVR however I think he'll be better than that this year, dude is an animal, one of my favorites.

The RB's are loaded, I don't know who I'll want as my starter. I'm a JT guy though, probably roll with him.